Threat of Power Shortages Generating New Urgency (Washington Post)
The Washington Post ran this story on the front page today about the Washington area’s growing hunger for electricty … and the region’s expectation that the power will come from somewhere else.
Electric power has already become painfully expensive in Washington and its suburbs. Now, local utilities say, it could become something even worse: scarce.
With its humming data centers and air-conditioned mansions, the region is using 18 percent more electricity than in 2001. And as demand has gone up, so have prices. Some homeowners have seen their rates jump by half or more.
Utility and government officials say the region has to face the idea that its demand for electricity could overtake the supply. In a little more than three years, they say, lights could flicker off in rolling blackouts.
To avert such shortages, electric companies have proposed a transmission line through the Loudoun countryside, a third nuclear reactor in Calvert County and other controversial projects. Even if the projects are built, they won’t come online for years. Environmentalists say the region could solve many of its problems simply by conserving energy.
This year, leaders in Maryland, Virginia and the District will all face crucial decisions affecting the power supply. The main question: Given that Washington loves electric power as much as other types of power, could the region make do with less of it?
The can read the entire story at WashingtonPost.com.